Local News
Hill Country Leaders Are Reassessing the Region’s Flood Risk
In light of last May’s flooding that damaged over 700 San Marcos homes and caused the Blanco River to rise over 43 feet, wiping out much of Wimberley, city leaders in the Texas Hill Country are examining new laws for building on flood-prone lands.
“I think it would just be irresponsible of us to build a new structure and not consider events that are going to happen with the lifetime of that structure,” Buda City Council Member Angela Kennedy recently told Community Impact. “[The council should] push for drainage that would hold the worst event that we have seen.”
The idea is to regulate development through the city code that could prevent such catastrophic damage on a large scale. FEMA had to get involved last year, and most folks would probably prefer that weren’t the case. Area entities hope that new building codes could prevent that should a “100-year flood” — or, a relatively large flood with a relatively small chance of happening — pours through the area again.
In San Marcos, proposed city code updates include language that cites that data from widespread studies, including the Hays County Flood Risk Study.
According to authors of the study, “Modern technological advances and data resources have made possible a much more detailed study than has been available in the past, making for a more reliable and accurate account of potential impact.”
Any new property development reviewed during Hays County’s weekly agenda are privy to being signed off on by the Local Floodplain Administrator, Tom Pope.
According to Community Impact, San Marcos intends to hold a workshop in February or March to discuss potential updates in light of the flooding.
